How To Prepare Your PC For Windows 10 Right Now

Windows 10 is coming, and here’s what you need to do to prepare your desktop or notebook for the big upgrade.

Windows 10 System Requirements

Though we have covered Windows 10 system requirements before as well, but here’s what you need to have in order to get Microsoft’s latest and greatest desktop OS up and running on your PC.

Processor clocked at 1GHz or higher.

1GB of RAM if you’re planning to install the 32-bit version of Windows 10, or at least 2GB if you’re going for 64-bit.

16GB of free hard drive space if you’re opting for 32-bit Windows 10, or 20GB if you’re going with 64-bit.

Graphic card with support for DirectX 9.0 or later with WDDM 1.0 driver.

A display with support for 800×600 or more resolution.

Obviously, this is the base requirement to run Windows 10, but if you want a fluid and stutter free experience, then you might just want to invest a little more on the hardware front to keep things ticking over nice and smoothly.

Back Up Your Files And Folders

There are a lot of things that can go wrong during the Windows 10 update process and you would want to make sure that things are as foolproof as possible. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you take a complete backup of everything in your hard drive to an external storage medium. You can either opt for cloud storage if you have an account for one, or take the old fashioned route of copying everything on a USB drive.

Update Everything Through Windows Update

If you have automatic Windows updates enabled then things should be on the positive side of the fence. Also make sure that you have the latest patches and hot fixes installed right away through Windows Update so that everything goes smoothly when Windows 10 is available to download.

Free Up Enough Hard Drive Space

Though Microsoft has clearly stated how much space Windows 10 requires (16GB for 32-bit, 20GB for 64-bit), it’s always a good idea to go above and beyond what’s written on paper. We suggest that you have at least twice as much storage free compared to what Microsoft suggests. So for example, if you wish to install the 64-bit version of Windows 10, we suggest that you keep your free storage a little north of 40GB, just to be on the safe side of things.

Note Down Your Current Windows Product Key

Considering how many people still favor Windows 7 compared to 8 and 8.1, there is a chance that you would want to downgrade from Windows 10 if for some reason it does not meet your expectations. In that case, it’s a solid idea to note down your Windows Product Key somewhere. It should be written underneath or behind your notebook or desktop PC. If for some reason it’s not there, then you can make use of an app called ‘Magical Jelly Bean’ to retrieve your Windows Product Key. Make good note of it in a safe location once you’ve retrieved it.

Take Note Of Your Installed Apps And Games

Make sure you make list of all the apps and games you have installed on your current installation of Windows before you jump to Windows 10. Why? Because it will save you some brain muscle when you’re going to perform a mass installation frenzy.

Create A System Image Backup

This is an important step to take. In Windows 8.1, you can actually take a full system image backup for times when you want to return to a specific state in case something goes wrong.

The System image backup tool can be found in Control Panel, and we recommend that you perform a full backup if you haven’t already.

Sit Back And Wait It Out

Once you’re all set, just sit back, relax, and wait when Windows 10 is available to download.